The joke’s on the Net: Comedy careers launched via Web

Stand-up comic Dane Cook’s frenetic energy and observational style has helped him build a solid fan base over 15 years of touring the club and college circuit.

But Cook credits mainstream success, which includes two best-selling CDs, a guest-host gig on Saturday Night Live, a multi-project deal with HBO, sellout live arena shows and a burgeoning film career, to the Internet.

“Without it, I’d be years behind where I am right now,” says Cook, who plunked down $25,000 to develop danecook.com in 2002. The site and his personal blog on the social-networking site myspace.com are chockfull of comic bits, rants, fan mail, show dates and marketing links, which Cook, 34, incessantly updates. Combined, they pull in more than 1.5 million fans a month, making him one of the Internet’s biggest comedy attractions.